Senate Committee Approves White to Run SEC

By Dave Michaels -
Mar 19, 2013

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee
approved Mary Jo White’s nomination to lead the Securities and
Exchange Commission on a bipartisan vote, clearing her way to
become the first ex-prosecutor to lead the agency.

The committee voted 21-1 to send White’s nomination to the
full Senate with unanimous support from the Republican members.
Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, was the sole dissenter.

The full Senate probably will vote this week on White’s
appointment, according to a Senate aide who requested anonymity
because the schedule hasn’t been set. If approved, she would
serve the remaining 14 months of a term vacated by Mary Schapiro, who stepped down as SEC chairman in December. The term
runs through June 5, 2014.

“Ms. White gave very clear commitments to pursue the SEC’s
statutory mandates, which are to protect investors, to maintain
fair and orderly and efficient markets, and to facilitate
capital formation,” said Senator Mike Crapo, an Idaho
Republican.

White’s skeptics have been Democrats such as Brown and
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who wanted to know
how her experience as a defense attorney for Wall Street banks
would affect her regulatory philosophy. Her clients at Debevoise
& Plimpton LLP included JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS),
and UBS AG. (UBSN) She was paid $2.4 million in salary last year,
according to her financial disclosure statement.

‘Very Aggressive’

“I am concerned about the Wall Street bias in this
institution,” Brown told reporters after the vote. “She is
very smart and very aggressive. I hope she proves me wrong that
a person inside Wall Street can do the kind of job we need.”

White, 65, a former U.S. attorney for Manhattan, said at a
March 12 Banking Committee hearing on her nomination that that
her work as a defense attorney “doesn’t mean I embrace the
policy thoughts of any of my clients in particular.”

Warren said in a statement after the vote that she hopes
White’s career as a prosecutor will make her “a tough
watchdog.” White’s “lack of track record on regulatory
issues” is a cause for concern, Warren said.

President Barack Obama nominated White in January to serve
out Schapiro’s term and fulfill a separate five-year term
through June 5, 2019.

The banking panel didn’t vote on the five-year term because
there wasn’t enough bipartisan support, according to a committee
aide who requested anonymity because negotiations over
nominations are private.

If the Senate vote doesn’t take place this week, White’s
nomination would be delayed until at least the week of April 8,
when senators return from a two-week recess.